{"id":492429,"date":"2026-06-23T12:51:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T16:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=492429"},"modified":"2026-06-23T13:31:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T17:31:37","slug":"nhl-rumours-montreal-canadiens-showing-interest-in-ducks-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2026\/06\/23\/nhl-rumours-montreal-canadiens-showing-interest-in-ducks-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: Montreal Canadiens Showing Interest in Ducks Centre"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to another edition of NHL Rumours<\/a> from the crew at Last Word on Hockey. We’re just days away from the 2026 NHL Entry Draft<\/a>, and with that, rumours are swirling around the league. Every year during the draft, we see teams looking to make moves to improve their roster for the present and the future, and we anticipate much of the same this year. One of those teams who are currently trying to improve its team for the present is the Montreal Canadiens. In this edition of NHL rumours, we focus on the Canadiens and the rumour that they’re showing interest in Anaheim Ducks<\/a> centreman, Mason McTavish<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All NHL rumours come from their original source and are subject to change.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

NHL Rumours: Canadiens Expressing Interest in Ducks Centreman<\/h2>\n

Rumour: According to Bruce Garrioch, there have been quite a few teams contacting the Anaheim Ducks about the availability<\/a> of Mason McTavish. One of those teams has been the Montreal Canadiens.<\/p>\n

Analysis: This should come as a surprise to literally no one. After the Canadiens had a solid run to the Eastern Conference Final in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, there was an obvious hole in their lineup that needs to be addressed for them to take the next step. That’s a second-line centre. While Jake Evans<\/a> played extremely well for the Canadiens, he was completely miscast as the second line centre and is better served as a shutdown centreman in the bottom six. It was a need that presented itself heavily in the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes, and hence why we’re hearing these rumours now, leading into the draft.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

McTavish is a Perfect Fit for the Canadiens<\/h3>\n

The fit for McTavish and the Canadiens couldn’t be more perfect. The Canadiens need to add some size and grit to their top-six, and McTavish provides exactly that. McTavish stands at 6’1” and weighs in at 220 lbs, and he uses every bit of it in his game. Whether it’s battling in the corners for the puck or on the boards, using his large frame to protect the puck or going hard to the net, creating traffic and causing havoc, McTavish is constantly engaged in the play, and his in-your-face style of play is exactly what the Canadiens need.<\/p>\n

McTavish has proven his ability to score already, hovering around 20 goals and between 40-55 points every season since he entered the league. It’s exactly the type of secondary scoring the Canadiens could use. Having a prolific player like Ivan Demidov<\/a> slotting next to you should only boost both Demidov and McTavish’s numbers as well. They would complement each other perfectly and also create space for each other, as both of them are dangerous offensively.<\/p>\n

McTavish is also responsible on the defensive side of the puck, making him the perfect player to slot in behind captain Nick Suzuki<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire<\/h3>\n

McTavish has often found his name in the rumour mill, and where there’s smoke, there’s fire. McTavish could certainly benefit from a change of scenery, and the Canadiens have all the assets to make a deal work between them and the Ducks.<\/p>\n

Kent Hughes is no stranger to making big trades at the draft. He’s made one every single year since he took over as general manager of the Canadiens. Three to acquire players such as Kirby Dach<\/a>, Alex Newhook<\/a> and Noah Dobson<\/a> and one to move up in the draft to select Michael Hage. So there’s no reason to think this year will be any different. Given how they’ve become a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, with one of the best prospect pools in the league, you can expect Hughes to take another swing at or around the draft to improve his roster. The coming days should be very interesting for both clubs as they navigate the market to improve their rosters.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to another edition of NHL Rumours from the crew at Last Word on Hockey. We’re just days away from the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, and with that, rumours are swirling around the league. Every year during the draft, we see teams looking to make moves to improve their roster for the present and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2506,"featured_media":492446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4547,7,34,4548,4321],"tags":[6752,6126],"class_list":["post-492429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-hockey","category-canadiens","category-news","category-nhl","category-rumours","tag-mason-mctavish","tag-montreal-canadiens-rumours"],"modified_by":"Colton Osmond, Dept Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2506"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492429"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":492453,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492429\/revisions\/492453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}